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Bastrop County’s proposed budget includes tax increase, salary hikes

Bastrop County’s proposed budget includes tax increase, salary hikes

Bastrop County commissioners are set to adopt the 2017-18 budget and set the tax rate at a meeting on Sept. 11. MARY HUBER/BASTROP ADVERTISER

Bastrop County is set to adopt its 2017-18 budget on Monday, which includes a salary increase for all county employees and as many as 18 new staff positions.

Officials at that time will also set the tax rate for the coming year, which at 58.9 cents per $100 in property valuation will translate as a tax increase for local property owners.

The proposed rate is a one-cent decrease from last year; however, because of soaring property valuations, it will mean that homeowners will pay higher property taxes in 2018 if it is approved. The effective tax rate for 2017-18, which would keep property owners’ bills the same as last year, is 55.3 cents per $100 valuation. Any number over that rate qualifies as a tax increase.

“I am proposing to the court that we step down one penny rather than the full 4.6 cents that would be the effective rate. That would be too big of a jump this year,” County Judge Paul Pape said at a Commissioners Court meeting on Aug 21. “We would not have really had enough money to fund the growth that’s happening in Bastrop County.”

As part of its $37.5 million general fund budget, the county has proposed a 2.5-percent salary hike for all county employees to account for an increase in the cost of living. Additional salary increases have also been proposed for the county’s engineer, information technology director and county court coordinator, totaling $13,441.

New staff additions could include three 911 dispatchers, three patrol deputies, a jail corrections officer, jail kitchen staff, an environment and sanitation inspector, a custodian, a groundskeeper, an administrative assistant for the purchasing department and part-time veterinarian and health staff for the Bastrop County Animal Shelter.

A suggested 18 new hires would cost the county about $1 million more annually, according to the preliminary budget.

Several previously grant-funded positions, like the county’s grant coordinator and Office of Emergency Management administrative assistant, would be paid for out of the county’s general fund, rather than cutting the positions.

“Some of our departments really asked for a lot more help,” Pape, who chairs the commissioners court, said at a meeting last month. “I am not recommending that we meet all their requests but at least give some assistance.”

The county approved about a third of the requests from various departments for new personnel.

Other additions to the budget include new vehicles for law enforcement, animal control and other departments.

The county has also allocated $200,000 for the capital murder trial for VonTrey Clark, who is charged in the 2015 murder of Samantha Dean. The trial has not yet been scheduled, according to Bastrop County court records, but Auditor Lisa Smith said it was slated for February and would likely last four months. The costs, which the county is obligated to pay, could easily soar above $200,000, Smith said. It may be that officials will have to dish out more money in the future on the case.

“They are going to bring in every specialist they can think of,” Smith said. “It’s going to hit the county hard.”

Officials had been weighing whether to move the 911 Communications Department back under control of the Bastrop County sheriff’s office. It was made a standalone department last year at the request of its director, Dawn Adams.

In its final draft of the budget, the county left dispatch as its own department, which means there will likely be no change to its operations next fiscal year.

The commissioners court is set to adopt the 2017-18 budget and set the tax rate for the coming year on Sept. 11 at 9 a.m. at the Bastrop County Courthouse Annex, 904 Pecan St.